1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to personal treatment apparatus. More particularly, the invention concerns an apparatus that is specially designed to provide comfort to a patient while lying in a prone position.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Because the human body has many shapes, contours and protuberances when an individual lies in a prone position, to rest, relax, sleep or receive treatment, localized discomfort, pain and even injury can result. This problem is exasperated for the mature female because, while laying face down the female cannot relax in a natural whole body extending position because the breasts cause a distortion in body position that is both uncomfortable as well as stressful for various muscle groups and tissue.
The breast tissue is primarily composed of subcutaneous fat and is almost solely supported by suspensory ligaments connecting breast skin to the tissue that rests above the pectoralis major. With traditional prior art flat treatment tables, the female patient, while lying prone will experience uncomfortable and sometimes harmful pressure on all breast tissue including stretching and tearing of the suspensory ligaments and compressing of the fat cells, often causing swelling to occur. Women with breast augmentations are faced with fear of possible ruptures and certainly severe discomfort.
Whether the individual is seeking a massage for relaxation or for therapeutic treatment, the body needs to be maintained in a relaxed position to achieve the highest degree of success. The thrust of the present invention is to provide a novel support apparatus that will achieve this result. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable personal treatment apparatus that is usable by persons of all sizes to enable them to enjoy, without harm, the full healthful benefits of proper and necessary massage and therapy.
Part of the reason that this issue has not been solved is that traditionally mattresses or, for instance a massage table, have been flat, ignoring the issues described above. Tables or mattress materials have tried to address the issue of comfort, pain or injury; however, because of the degree of contour of the human body, changing the material in and of itself is not alone enough to provide both the intended purpose of the invention, as well as the intended attributes during use.
Other similar inventions have attempted to address some of these issues, but in spite of the long history of these inventions, there remains a need for an automated, adjustable body part and contour comfort system.
A number of attempts at solving these issues have been disclosed in the following U.S. Letters Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,988 issued to Wetzler; U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,764 issued to Harding; U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,170 issued to Spehar; U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,475 issued to Steffensmeier; U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,696 issued to Gillotti; U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,609 issued to Zheng; U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,715 issued to Jackman; U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,338 issued to Arndt; U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,431 issued to Splane, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,213 issued to Chase, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,573 issued to Ramos; U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,979 issued to Grady; U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,638 issued to Gillotii; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,460 issued to Fried.
The structures disclosed by the forgoing references suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages: no adjustable recessed cup area, requirement that the patient stand during treatment, lack of portability, and limited adjustability.